Fly Away
by Flandre Nightshade
Summary: Izuku Midoriya was born with nothing. It was only as she was falling out of the sky did she realize she wanted everything the world had to offer.
1. Izuku Midoriya

**Contains dark themes.**

* * *

"I'm sorry. But without a quirk I can't promise that you can be a hero."

Hot tears streamed down her face.

* * *

The sky was a beautiful sea of azure. It was speckled with bright clouds lazily drifting across the horizon and over the hills. The wind calmly hymned in the air, creating a gentle breeze. On the ground, pedestrians walked to and from their destinations. Each with their own life to live out.

Izuku Midoriya could feel the cold metal of the chain link fence behind her. Her hair fluttered about from the wind as she stared upon the ground.

They were so small from up here.

People continued walking. Ignoring, or perhaps not noticing, the girl on the roof with her legs dangling off the edge.

Izuku breathed in the crisp air. From up on top, it felt just so fresh, so new.

She clenched her fists. The metallic chain fence dig into her fingers.

 _Useless._

Izuku felt her blood start pumping. It was exhilarating to be on top of the world. She felt like she could do absolutely anything.

She looked around, the building she was on had to be taller than any other by at least twenty stories.

 _Hopeless._

She looked directly downwards, towards the ground and concrete. It was so far. _So far._ The ground was so far away.

Birds chirped and flew nearby. She was high enough that she was at the elevation they casually soared through the sky at.

Was this how it was to be a bird? Were they always looking at the ground from this high up?

Did they always feel the rushing sense of _freedom_ from being on top of the world?

 _Quirkless._

Izuku smiled. She had nothing at all. From the moment she was born to present day. Fourteen years of nothing.

But here. On top of the largest skyscraper in the city, she felt like she had _everything in the world._

She would never be able to go back to nothing.

 _You should just..._

What would it feel like…

 _Jump off a building!_

To fly?

 _Maybe then you'll…_

To jump off and feel that rushing sense of power.

 _Finally stop being a burden to everyone._

To jump…

Jump…

One foot was already dangling off the edge…

Just one foot…

Izuku leaned forward. Her hands clenching the chain fence with everything she had. It bulged forward in an attempt to hold her weight.

Her smile was big, bigger than her face.

If she just let go.

Let go…

 **LET GO**

So she did.

Izuku Midoriya let go.

She flew through the air.

Laughing, she spun and flipped. It was so exhilarating, so powerful. Adrenaline had flooded her body and her mind raced.

The air screamed, she couldn't hear anything else but the loud rush of free fall. She laughed again.

Glancing downward, she saw the ground. It was approaching _so slow_ and she was _so fast_. Faster than anyone, faster than All Might at top speed.

Izuku flapped her arms. A bird, she was like a bird. Flying through the air and nose diving downwards to attain a top speed.

Her eyes watered from the wind pressure, but she didn't care. Like this, in free fall, she was powerful. Even if she was quirkless she could beat _anyone._ Because why not? Who cares if society thinks she's a burden. She would prove them wrong.

Like this. She was unstoppable.

Like this. She was unbeatable.

Like this. She could take on the world. Because the world held everything.

And when she did, she would tell her mother. Her mother who had been there for her when no one else had. Her mother who believed in her. Her mother who-

Izuku Midoriya's body hit the ground with a sickening crunch.

* * *

The green haired girl blinked from atop the skyscraper. Her heart was deathly still and her face was beyond pale.

She clenched her hand tight, taking note at how the metal dug into her hand _pain pain_ _ **pain**_ and how she felt liquid _**blood**_ _**it hurts**_ run down her arm.

Izuku looked downwards. The ground was so far away. It lit her body up with adrenaline and _**stop**_ power _**enough.**_

The rattling of the chain link fence caught her attention. It was moving, shaking. By something, someone. _**Her.**_ She looked towards the center of the vibrations. It was located directly on her hands. She was trembling, she noticed.

She didn't understand. Why did she feel like she lost something. Something she could never get back, and felt like something tagged along with her. Something that wasn't there before.

She had…

She had… died?

Did she… come back to life? Or did it never happen in the first place. She was here, on top of the building again, instead of on the ground. Splattered against the pavement in an assortment of broken bones and organs.

She had felt everything, it was so _real_. The feeling of free falling through the air. The flips and spins. The happiness and _power_ she felt while in the air.

The feeling of wanting everything.

She remembered it. She remembered the fence, the leg dangling, the letting go.

She remembered the rush of wind in her ears. Deafening her to anything else.

She remembered the feeling of being unbeatable, being unstoppable, the feeling of _wanting to grasp the world for herself._

Birds chirping brought her out of her thoughts. She remembered those birds too.

Those birds that flew high and free.

They were…

They were…

She couldn't remember. What was she thinking about?

Think Izuku think.

What was she…

She wanted to… grasp the world for herself…

No. Those weren't her thoughts. She would never… but she did. She did want it.

She wanted power. Power to change society. Power to let her fly through the sky.

But why? She had never wanted those before. But now it was a thought that gripped her with force. That couldn't happen though. She was quirkless. And people who were quirkless, they couldn't do…

Couldn't do anything… but they could.

She remembered the feeling of _power_. Even if she was quirkless. That didn't mean she had to roll over and be content.

But where did she remember that feeling from?

She scanned her memories. Nothing had ever caused her to feel like she was truly powerful. The bullies, the teachers, the scornful gazes and the _physical punishment_.

Nothing. It was as if someone had planted feelings, or perhaps a memory and then took it away, into her and left her without saying anything.

But that… that wasn't possible. Because up here she was alone.

She had double and triple checked. Nobody used the top five floors of this building and the key to the roof was something only a handful of people had. She had _**stolen and made a copy**_ borrowed the key before coming up.

Up here was her safe haven. Nobody would be there but her.

Izuku Midoriya was alone.

* * *

Her memories of the past hour may have been a blur, but two feelings shone brighter than the rest.

Two that she hadn't felt before.

Izuku Midoriya wanted everything the world had to offer.

And that she knew how it felt to die.

* * *

 **Start: April 21st. 2018.**

 **End: April 24th. 2018.**

 **Words: 1174**

 **The story will loosely follow canon.**

 **This is… similar to another story I have. Dream Within a Dream. The narrative styles are close, but not the same. Whereas DwaD aims to replicate the experience of recalling a dream, this one is a more normal narration, but still maintaining the distant feel**

 **No romance. Pairings are fine and dandy for this story I prefer not to have any.  
**

 **As always, if you notice any mistakes, please send me a pm or notify me in a review.**

 **Thanks.**

 **-FN.**


	2. Katsuki Bakugou

It was the distinct sound of an explosion that shook Izuku out of her thoughts on the way down the stairs. She had been listlessly reviewing the events of the day, as it had been possibly the most active day she's had in her life.

All of it started with that one villain in the morning. She had been on her way to school ready to endure another day of punishment. But she had caught sight of a villain on the run from some heroes.. It caught her attention of course. As most heroes tended to. She had planned to leave as soon as it resolved, and it resolved quicker than she thought it would with the entrance and debut of Mt. Lady. The interview that occurred afterwards caused her to stay extra however. And she had to sprint so she wouldn't be late. After that…

Izuku grit her teeth and glanced out the window. Bakugou…

Bakugou had burnt her notebook to a crisp. Her notebook that she worked so hard on. That she took notes on almost every hero she knew of. Burnt her prized possession and threw it out the window. Then yelled at her for trying to apply to UA like he was. She hated him for that. For everything he's done to her over the years. Yet he was a friend. A _friend._ It was something she had to constantly remind herself of.

Then once she had finished school, she took a shortcut to go home. That was a mistake, thinking back on it. She had met a villain face to face. And he had… almost killed her. Would have killed her had her idol not stepped in. All Might was even more charismatic in person.

All Might was someone she was conflicted with. He was someone who had saved thousands of people. He was her idol for a majority of her life. All Might was the symbol of peace in the modern world. Yet she could not help the creeping feeling of resentment bubble up within her and burst forward.

" _I cannot promise that you…"_

He was the same. The same as everyone else. And she couldn't fault him for that. He had calmly explained to her why she couldn't be a hero. Because it was dangerous. Because people could get hurt. Because people died all the time in the line of duty.

" _...can become a hero without a quirk. I'm sorry."_

Because she could die without having a quirk.

But not even a full hour after All Might had told her that. Izuku had died from her own volition. The details were blurry and she couldn't remember the entire event clearly, but the single moment of when she struck the ground was as clear as day.

She had died. But at the same time she was still here, in the land of living, with a beating heart. It was almost enough to make her doubt her sanity, but she trusted her mind. It was the one thing in this cruel world that she could trust.

All the events brought her to _now._ Standing in a stairwell, 5 floors off the ground, staring at an explosion that occurred about two blocks away.

She was curious, it was obviously a villain attack, if today's precedent was anything to go by. But she wasn't sure if she wanted to get involved in _another_ incident. Today had been rough, and she was self aware enough to realize that anything more might be too much for her. She was still paying acute attention to the sound of her chest beating, just to make sure she actually was still alive, that she knew if push came to shove and they needed to evacuate the area she would be too distracted to do so efficiently.

Another explosion blossomed into the sky. It was powerful enough that she could hear a very slight ringing in her ears from a couple blocks away.

Izuku decided to take two steps at a time and raced downwards. By the time she had reached the door to outside, another explosion had gone off, this one significantly smaller than the previous ones.

She dashed towards the scene as fast as she could. Her legs ached and her breath was running short, but she had made it without too much time going by.

The sight she was met with was absolute chaos.

Fires and infernos raged through the buildings. Eating up the air greedily and bringing a sweltering heat that Izuku could feel from a respectable distance. The two structures that were consumed in the flames looked to be falling apart at the seams. As if a single push could cause it to crumble and collapse into a sea of rubble.

Another explosion rocked the premise. It was violet and unbelievably _angry_. Izuku looked towards the source and her heart froze.

Sludge. Moving sludge. Sludge that laughed and had a disgusting smile. Sludge that should have been _captured_ and _turned in_.

But why? Why was it here? Hadn't All Might captured the sludge villain?

He had! She saw him scoop him up and force him into those bottles. Did she have something to do with it? When she stopped him from taking off immediately, did it somehow escape without either or them noticing?

Or perhaps and even worst of all, did something happen to All Might that caused him to be unable to turn in the villain. Was he okay? He wasn't hurt was he?

Someone screamed and Izuku turned to look at the crowd. Kamui Woods stood in the front of the pack with several chutes of wood sticking out of one of his arms, creating a sort of makeshift shield.

Izuku glanced back to the villain. He was alone, rampaging and causing mayhem.

More questions swarmed her. Why was Kamui Woods here and not fighting the villain? Where were the other heroes?

The flames roared once more. Kamui Woods backed up.

Izuku grit her teeth.

Why wasn't he doing anything? Wasn't he a hero? It was a hero's job to stop villains!

Why wasn't he-

Another explosion. Someone screamed again and bumped into Kamui Woods.

"Hey!" He yelled. "Watch out, there's a hostage!"

The crowd burst into commotion and Izuku paled. A hostage? But who?

She looked at the sludge villain. Taking note on how the body seemed to curve inward, as if to make space for _something that didn't belong._ How the teeth and smile seemed to be completely out of place. How the _**blonde hair**_ and _**red eyes**_ seemed to match those of someone she knew.

How Katsuki Bakugou seemed to often have the same exact expression of rage that the hostage had.

How Katsuki Bakugou had a quirk that could produce explosions, just like the hostage.

How Katsuki Bakugou had the exact same snarl, the exact same face and eyes and and body and **everything** as the hostage.

The only difference was that she had never seen that expression of pure fear on the face of Katsuki Bakugou

 _But she guessed that even Katsuki Bakugou was afraid of dying._

Izuku didn't even realize that she began to run ahead until she heard the yelling of Kamui Woods telling her to stop.

She didn't care.

She would help Bakugou with everything she had to offer.

Because if Katsuki Bakugou died then she would never be able to tell him how much she _**hated his guts**_ looked up to him.

If he died she would never get the chance to _**punch him back for everything he's done to her**_ put her arm around his just like old times and laugh it off.

She would never be able to define their terribly toxic miasma of a relationship. Were they friends? Did they hate each other? Were they rivals? The decade of mixed interactions had caused a discord of emotions to well up within her concerning Bakugou.

Adrenaline flooded her. She didn't know what on earth she was going to do. But her mind raced.

Think.

Think.

Think.

His body was impervious to physical attacks. Explosions too if Bakugou still being imprisoned was anything to go by. She couldn't punch him. She was weak anyways, she couldn't do what All Might did and pummel him with pure air pressure, she didn't have that kind of quirk. Perhaps she could get a building to fall on him? That one was off the list as well. The flames were volatile and hard to control, not to mention the possibility of hurting Bakugou.

She could…

She could…

She was out of options already.

 **No!**

Think. Recall the memories. The first time the sludge villain went down was when All Might defeated him with absolute wind pressure from the force of his punch. He was… knocked out, not killed, and forced into a bottle. Two bottles of she recalled correctly. Was there anything strange about those bottles? She didn't think so. They were normal 2 liter bottles she saw him chug down after knocking out the villain. But then…

Then…

Another roadblock. No.

Wait.

Was there anything else?

The bottles… were normal, she confirmed that earlier. But something about them bothered her. What was it? It couldn't be before the encounter, she had yet to see them then, so it had to be after. Was it after the bottles were filled with sludge? They looked normal. Like a bottle filled with sludge. That wasn't… no.

She found it.

The eyes.

When filled with the bottle, only the eyes remained in a physical form. From the inside of the bottle she could remember seeing the floating forms of two eyeballs.

That meant he wasn't able to sludgify his eyes. It had to be.

It was an opening, a flimsy one, but it was all Izuku had.

She ducked under a sludge limbed jab. Her feet staggered a bit from her general unathleticism, but she managed to keep her footing.

The villain was tall, taller than a normal man, when meant she had to throw something. The only thing she had was her backpack.

So she did just that.

She twisted and let her backpack come into her hands with ease. Grabbing it by strap, she threw it with everything she had.

It soared through the air lazily, tumbling over and spilling some supplies out without a care.

Izuku watched it fly. Wishing, hoping, praying to any and all the gods she knew or heard of that it would hit.

Please.

She tumbled out of the way of another jab.

Please!

The sludge villain looked up and stared at the incoming backpack.

And Izuku watched it land directly on his eye.

The villain roared in pain. Releasing its complete and utter hold on Bakugou.

Izuku watched him gasp for air. Watched how his determination reignited and how that fierce expression of utter rage came back.

She dashed forward. Fully intent on pulling him out of the prison he was currently in.

"Give me your hand!" She yelled.

Bakugou snarled. "I don't need your damn help!"

Fury lit up her eyes. "Give me your hand!" She repeated.

"Why are you helping me?!" His voice was full of anger and tinged with something else. Confusion, fear, desperation. Hope.

Bakugou asked the question that Izuku had been asking herself all her life.

Why?

Why was she helping him?

To tell him how much she hated him later?

How much she wanted to bash his face in as revenge for everything he's done?

Tell him how much she admires how he never backs down?

How he had everything he could ever want and still wanted more?

Tell him that they weren't friends at all?

How she wasn't sure what they really were at all?

But Izuku knew deep down, that wasn't why she helped Katsuki Bakugou. The reason she helped Bakugou, despite everything he's done to her over the years was simple.

"Because you looked like you wanted help."

Bakugou's eyes widened. His face went slack in surprise. Then he snarled once again. "You little Deku!" He wrenched his arm out of the grasp of the sludge and brought it to her face, and explosion of smoke going off in the process.

But it was only that, smoke, no explosion.

Izuku didn't hesitate. She grabbed onto his arm with both of hers and _pulled._ Pulled with everything she had. And when he didn't budge, she pulled again.

And again.

And again.

Until finally.

Bakugou came loose.

He fell forward onto Izuku causing both of them to tumble onto the ground.

Izuku pushed him off and they both scrambled to get up. "Hurry!" She yelled.

Bakugou dashed forward. Izuku quickly followed.

Izuku could hardly believe it. Everything was a blur but it was _working._ They were almost free! So close. _Freedom was so close!_ Kamui had opened a hole in his wooden shield to allow Bakugou and her through. She just needed to get there!

"Why you little shits!" Izuku heard a roar from behind her. She glanced a peek behind her.

The sludge villain had recovered, and if his uproar was anything to go by. He was furious.

Izuku looked back forward. Bakugou had already made it to safety and was yelling obscenities at her.

She was close.

So close.

Just a little more an-

Izuku felt as if the ground had been pulled out from beneath her. She yelped and crashed into the ground shoulder first.

"Deku!" She heard from the crowd.

No! No no no no no no no no! She was so close!

Pain flared up as she was dragged across the ground. A tentacle of sludge wrapped around her ankle.

A gurgly laugh rose up from the villain. "Oh? You were the girl from earlier aren't you?" He said, bringing Izuku up and letting her dangle from the air. "How ironic that you would be the one to come running forward playing hero."

The villain laughed again. "Now then, I hope you're prepared." His voice become chilly. "Because I'm going to show you how it feels to die."

And then he enveloped her entirely.

Izuku wanted to laugh. How it felt to die? She already knew what it felt like. She knew how felt it to have all of the bones in your body crushed at once. To have the last bit of life be extinguished from your body.

She couldn't breathe.

She wanted to scream. To scream at how unfair the world was. How she must have been the most unlucky person in the world. How nothing ever seemed to go her way.

She wanted to yell at everyone. To tell them how much she hated them for having quirks. How cruel and mean they were to her just because she didn't have one. She was still a person. She wasn't any less human just because she lacked a quirk.

She wanted to thrash about. To give everyone who had ever bullied her a good punch to the gut. To see how they liked it when someone hurt them.

But she couldn't. She couldn't move. She couldn't talk. Her body felt like it was slowly shutting down. How had Bakugou survived this for so long?

Everything was going dark. Her vision slowly developed dark spots.

" **Everything is fine. Why?"**

She was going to die.

She was going to die.

She was going to die.

…

She didn't want to die.

Not again.

" **Because I am here."**

Izuku felt herself slipping.

Falling.

She was almost gone.

If only she got the chance to say goodbye.

Her mother would worry on why she was late.

She would cry and weep.

Izuku's heart clenched in pain. Of everything that could happen. Making her mother sad was the last thing on her list.

Please…

Anyone…

And then everything _shifted._

Izuku felt her body being _pulled upwards._ Up and out of the body of sludge. Oxygen filled her lungs and colour returned. Everything was a blur.

" **Detroit** …"

She felt so weak. So helpless. Who? Who saved her?

" **...Smash!"**

Power. Izuku felt unrelenting power. Power that she felt before. Power that could only belonged to one person.

"All Might…?" She muttered. Her eyes still not fully recovered.

" **Yes. Everything is alright, Midoriya-shoujo."**

He set her down on the ground.

Izuku blinked twice, her vision slowly sliding back into focus.

All Might stood before her. His visage tall and charismatic. His muscles bulged and flexed with every movement he made. The white shirt he was wearing wasn't skin tight, but it did little to hide his massive figure.

Rain pelted Izuku's face. She blinked and looked upwards. It was clear skies and sunny a second ago, but it seemed to have changed in an instant.

As if a spell had been broken by the rain, the stunned onlookers let out a cry of joy at seeing All Might. People rushed to greet him.

Still frazzled by the events prior, Izuku could only watch as the number one hero was surrounded by fans.

"Hey kid." A voice sounded from her side. She turned to match the voice with face. "Are you alright?" Kamui Woods asked.

Izuku opened her mouth to respond, but when she noticed that she was once again trembling, she opted to nod instead.

Kamui quirked an eyebrow before he sighed. "Good. I can't tell you how close to a heart attack I was when I saw a random kid run in."

She couldn't help herself. "But…"

"No buts kid." He interrupted her. "What you did was reckless, you were lucky that All Might was there."

She didn't understand, why was she being reprimanded? Why was she being scolded? Hadn't she done the right thing? She saved Bakugou! She might have gotten caught in the process, but that didn't matter. Everyone was fine in the end.

But Kamui Woods was here. Telling her how reckless she was, how she could have died. How she should have waited. _Waited_. While a more advantageous hero came to the scene. How she was naive in thinking she could take on a villain by herself.

But…

She didn't understand…

Izuku chanced a glance over at Bakugou. He was surrounded by people. The fawns over his powerful quirk, how he was so brave against the sludge villain. How he would grow up to be an amazing hero with how strong he was currently.

Ah…

That's right…

She had almost forgot.

That the world she lived in was unfair.

That people like her were left in the dust no matter their efforts.

* * *

It was late in the evening when the police had finally finished questioning her and Bakugou. They had let her go after giving her a brief scolding. She had accepted it without a rebuttal.

She had walked home alone. Her mother had been called in advance by the officer on the scene telling her that Izuku would be late.

It was odd, she thought. At how the day played out.

In a event that was nothing more than a haze, new emotions had welled up from deep inside her. She wanted power, craved and hungered for it. And she wanted to be on top of the world.

She had thought she could reach the top. Even without a quirk, as long as she was determined enough she could do it.

But…

Izuku grit her teeth. She didn't do anything wrong. She hadn't acted on her desire for power, or her desire to be the top. She had acted because it was the right thing to do.

How was saving someone bad? That was what a hero did.

She didn't understand.

Why-

"Deku."

Izuku blinked and turned.

Katsuki Bakugou stood in front of her.

"Kacchan" She said before she could stop herself.

He marched up to her and grabbed her by the collar. His red eyes glared at her, as if wanting to her to drop dead on the spot.

"You didn't fucking save me Deku." He growled. "You understand? You didn't fucking do anything."

Izuku stayed silent. She stared back into Bakugou's angry red orbs.

He shook her once before throwing her down onto the ground. "Stay out of my fucking way, quirkless loser."

He turned and started to walk away. Bakugou was completely over talking with Izuku. He had nothing left to say to her.

Izuku however, did.

"Kacchan." She called out.

He whipped around towards her, a furious snarl on his face. "What did I just fucking-"

"Do you remember what you said to me earlier?" Izuku asked.

"Hah?" Irritation flitted across his face. "You're going to have to be more fucking specific dumbass."

Izuku smiled. "The ground hurt."

Bakugou's face went through a multitude of expression. Anger being the first and foremost. Then he looked confused.

Then he paled.

And then, Katsuki Bakugou turned around and stormed off.

Izuku Midoriya watched him leave.

* * *

 **Start: April 26th. 2018.**

 **End: May 1st. 2018.**

 **Words: 3473.**

 **The story will loosely follow canon. It will get dark, and there will be more serious themes like in the first chapter.**

 **Thank you.**

 **-FN**


	3. Toga Himiko

It was the the flickering of the street light that kept Izuku tethered to reality. It was the object she focused on, watching it blink into existence before slowly dying out. She watched it because she didn't want to think about anything else.

She felt hollow. After all the excitement and adrenaline came tumbling down after the day's events, she felt drained of any and all energy she had previously. Her arms and legs felt like lead and her head felt as if it was floating away from her body.

Every breath she took was deep and full, getting as much oxygen into them as physically possible. As if her body wanted to make sure nothing like the suffocating darkness that had happened at the hands of the sludge villain would occur again.

She was laying down on a stray bench a couple blocks away from her house. One hand on over her stomach, letting it rise up and down in the rhythm of her deep breaths. The other atop of her heart. Letting the faint thumping pulse through her hands.

Izuku took in a deep breath of the cool crisp air. It brought a clear lucidity to her mind, letting her know that she hadn't sailed past the River Styx and onto the other side, yet also gave a sense of numbness that shot down any unwelcome thoughts or ideas that her overactive brain would often come up with.

She shifted her head, letting it crack in relief, and turned it so she no longer stared directly at the lamp post.

Izuku sighed. Something was wrong with her. She was aware of her own body enough to know that ever since she came down from that rooftop, something was different. As if somewhere in her line of genetic coding, there was a two that was supposed to be a one.

She sighed once more and closed her eyes, moving her head back into its original position.

Ten months. She had ten months before she had to do the test to get into UA Academy. Ten months to go from nothing to _something._ Something that would at least get her noticed.

She was nothing currently. No muscles, no experience, no quirk. Today had opened her eyes to how truly outclassed she was in this world full of powers. For her, the lowest of the low, the weakest of the weak, to meet All Might and see just how big the cavern between their powers were. Was a bit daunting.

A bit being the understatement of the century.

She could remember how it felt to be in the presence of All Might. His very being felt crushing and it was like she was stuck inside the sludge villain all over again. Her breath caught in her throat and her lungs refused to work. To think that wasn't even a fraction of his true power was terrifying. If All Might had decided to use his overwhelming power for evil instead of good, the world she lived in would have been a much different place.

Izuku grit her teeth. She knew that was impossible. All Might was the epitome of good. He would never do something immoral, but it was the question of _what if._ What if All Might suddenly went dark? What if he suddenly decided one day, that it wasn't worth protecting the good anymore? What if, this one scared her the most, there was someone as strong as All Might out there, lurking in the shadows and waiting to use their tremendous power for evil?

Izuku shivered, before she would have never thought of such pessimistic thoughts, but the encounter with deaths doors had almost all of her thoughts heading south. _What if_ was the question of the day. What if she had died up on that rooftop? What if she actually _had_ died and somehow was brought back to life? What if she imagined the whole thing?

She didn't know, the more time that passed the blurrier the memory of the rooftop became. As if it was a dream that was quickly escaping her grasp. She could only remember the feeling of falling, pain, and then _**nothing**_. The time going up to the rooftop, the time spent on it and coming down was nothing but a chaotic mess in her mind. It was odd, the entire day was crystal clear to her except for the rooftop, even the parts of the day that were better forgotten, such as being stuck inside the sludge villain, were as clear as day.

Izuku breathed in again. Focusing solely on the soft noise of her breathing.

Inhale.

Izuku let her mind fill with all the negative thoughts and emotions that had been eating away at her recently.

Exhale.

And then she let it flow away and out. She let the pessimistic thoughts drift away into the wind.

Inhale.

Villains. Rooftops. Bullies. Sludge.

Exhale.

Gone. Nothing. They meant nothing.

Inhale.

Hate. She hated them. Hated them for alienating her. Hated them for _all the cruel comments._ Ha **ted them for** _ **everything-**_

Exhale.

Those thoughts were better left locked away.

Izuku shifted slightly.

Once more.

Inhale.

Ex-

Izuku stopped.

There was something odd about that last breath she took. Something that nipped at her sense of wrong. She replayed the deep breath in her mind. It felt like the time she spent inhaling was longer than the time it actually took.

As if there was some sort of lag to it…?

No, that wasn't it. It was close, but it just didn't feel correct. It was like there an echo to her breaths. But out in the open like she was, sound didn't just echo as noticeably as it had just then. The only way there could have been an echo was… if there was someone copying her actions?

Izuku snapped open her eyes.

And was met with piercing yellow irises staring back at her.

The quirkless girl shot upright. Her forehead nearly coming into contact with the mysterious stranger were it not for their quick reflexes.

"Whoa!" The stranger called out, a playful lilt to their voice.

Izuku jumped off the bench she had been laying on, swiveling around to face the stranger. Her breaths were panicked and her heart beat furiously.

"Who-" She stuttered, her voice wavering. "Who are you?"

The stranger, a girl now that Izuku had been able to get a good look at her, gave an exaggerated look around the area before turning back to the green haired girl and pointing to herself.

The strange girl gave a toothy grin, her pronounced canines on full display. "Me?" She asked.

Izuku took a deep breath to calm her racing heart. The yellow eyed girl, who coincidentally wore a baggy yellow school uniform and had messy blonde hair, looked to be nothing more than just a stranger who was curious about what she was doing. She knew that laying on a park bench in the dead of the night wasn't exactly the most common thing to see someone her age doing.

Swallowing down her nerves, Izuku recited her question once more. "Yes." She confirmed. "Who are you?"

The blonde haired stranger gave a giggle before rushing in close enough that Izuku could feel their hot breath against her face.

Their close proximity allowed Izuku to smell the sweet fragrance of her shampoo along with another, a more metallic scent that Izuku knew she had smelt before.

"Me?" The stranger repeated once more, before giggling again. "I'm Himiko Toga. You can call me Toga!"

Izuku swallowed the trepidation rising up her throat. She didn't know why but her gut was telling her that she was in _danger_. Her instincts screamed at her to run _run run_ _ **run**_ away from the newly introduced Toga.

Taking a step back from the girl intruding upon her space. Izuku gave a forced smile.

"To-" Her voice cracked. She swallowed and tried again. "Toga! What are you d-doing out so late?" Izuku questioned. Her palms felt sweaty with anxiety.

Toga took a step forward, matching Izuku's backpedal. Her closeness once again led Izuku to smell that metallic scent.

She _knew_ what that smell was, but her heart was beating louder than she could think. It was… It was… Shit! She felt like she was on the verge of discovering something life saving, but she couldn't pinpoint exactly what it was.

Toga licked her lips, drawing Izuku's gaze to her cherry coloured lips. They were curved in a confident smirk, one that went all the way up to her eyes. Her eyes which held traces of dark circles from one too many nights without sleep.

"I was just taking a walk at night, wasn't that what you were doing, Midoriya-san?" The yellow eyed girl said.

Izuku's mouth felt dry. "Ah. No. I just…" She trailed off.

The green haired girl took a step back.

"Oh?" What were you doing then, Midoriya-san?"

Toga took a step forward.

"I was just… I was-" Izuku couldn't breathe.

She took another step back.

"You were? You were what?" Her smile felt wicked.

Step forward.

"T-thinking. I was just- alone and I-"

Izuku's back hit a wall.

"What were you thinking about, Midoriya-san?"

Toga stepped forward, pressing her body into Izuku's. Her hands went up and caressed the green haired girl's cheeks. Her hot breath littered Izuku's neck.

Izuku thought the hands on her cheeks were freezing.

"I-I was-"

She stopped. Her eyes widened as if she had finally recognized something obvious.

"H-How do you-" She couldn't hear herself over her own heartbeat. "How do you know my name?"

Toga tilted her head. "Isn't that obvious Midoriya-san?" She asked, letting one of her hands fall to her side.

 _Metal. All she could smell was metal._

"You were so brave earlier today. The way you saved that classmate of yours!" She let out a small giggle.

 _Metallic. Metal. Red lips. Red. Metal._

"Ahh." Toga let out a sigh as she continued. "You had me swooning. You didn't even use your quirk."

 _Metallic scent? Red coloured. Red? A liquid?_

"Hey, Midoriya-san…" Toga started. "Can I call you Izuku? After all… we're friends

aren't we?"

 _A red coloured liquid with a metallic scent?_

Izuku paled. Her stomach felt like it was wrapped in knots.

She knew what she had been smelling the entire time.

"Izuku…" Toga looked up to her, a faint blush coloured her face. "Will you please… be mine-"

 **It was blood.**

"-and die for me?"

Silver flashed.

Izuku ducked and rolled out of the way. The gravel came in contact with her arms but she ignored the brief flare of discomfort it brought. Scrambling to her feet, Izuku turned towards her assailant in order to block any upcoming attacks. She wasn't confident in her skills, but she had to do something.

Toga was standing in the exact same place she was at when she initially attacked. Her gaze was fixated on the knife she held, which dripped a fresh red liquid.

Pain flared in Izuku's cheek. Her hand reflexively went up to the origin. It felt wet and sticky.

Blood? Her gaze turned to her now bloodied hand. She had thought she was able to successfully dodge the attack. But the evidence said otherwise. The amount of blood on her hand was no small amount either. Izuku turned her gaze back towards her assailant.

Toga licked the fresh blood off the knife. A euphoric look came upon her as she began to laugh maniacally.

"Izuku…" Toga called out. "Your blood is so sweet." She licked it once more. Savoring the taste with a smile. "Will you give me more?"

Izuku pivoted around, her shoes making a soft grinding noise on the gravelly road below her.

She had to move **now.**

She sprinted forward, dodging a nearby lamppost that was in her path and skidding around a corner. Her house wasn't far from where they currently were, but she didn't want some crazy psychopath to find out where she lived either. Which really only left the option to shake her off.

The neighborhood itself wasn't necessarily complex, but the way it's layout was designed would confuse anyone who wasn't familiar with it beforehand. The plan would be null if Toga happened to from around here, but Izuku was pretty sure she would have heard of some psychopath neighbor a long time ago if that was the case.

Izuku pushed more strength into her legs. Willing herself to move faster. Leaping over a small fence, she ran through a small dirt path that led to the local park. If she could cut through the park and head east, she would be able to make it onto a main road that led to the city. Once she was there… she could just blend in with the crowd.

Her legs burned with exhaustion by the time she made it to the park, it wasn't a long distance but her physical state was sorely lacking.

She mentally promised herself that she would exercising more seriously if she survived this.

Stumbling through uneven ground, Izuku tripped when she placed her foot on piece of land that was more mud than dirt. Her hands broke her fall, but her lungs burned with the need of oxygen.

 _Get up._

Izuku pushed against the ground. But her arms refused to listen.

 _Please get up._

She had to move. She was losing what advantage she had gained over her pursuer and potential murderer with every passing second.

 _GET UP!_

Izuku screamed. She poured her remaining strength into her arms, propelling her onto her feet. A second later she was back on the move.

She ran. Jumping over a small kiddie ride that the park held. Izuku kept moving forward.

Reaching the edge of the park, Izuku took a right turn and then a left. The road wasn't as popular as the one she could have taken if she just proceeded east at the park, but it held a back alleyway that served as a shortcut to the city.

"Fuck!" She was so close. So close to the city! Everything about her _burned_ but she just had to endure a bit more.

Izuku sidestepped another lamppost and skidded to a stop, her freshly muddied shoes causing her to collide with a stray garbage can. She ignored the brief flash of pain that shot up her hip and ran into the dark alley.

Twirling around the stray items that were left behind someway or another, she reached the back of the corridor. If she just took a left here then she would…

"W-What…?" She stopped. Her eyes widening in disbelief.

In front of her was a large pile of rubble that blocked off the rest of the alley.

"How?!" She screamed.

Izuku glanced upwards, the two buildings parallel to each other seemingly had the top floor completely obliterated. It reminded her acutely of how the buildings were like during the struggle with the sludge villain. Blown to bits and stray pieces of them everywhere.

She stared at the giant pile of rubble more. It was much too large to climb up, and even if she could it didn't look stable enough anyways. One wrong step and the entire thing could collapse again. Moving pieces away was out of the question as well. For the same reasons as climbing.

Izuku checked behind her and much to her dismay she found the alley in a similar state. Full of broken pieces of concrete and building.

She knew what had to have happened to cause such a state. A villain must have caused a ruckus and damaged the surrounding area while they were subdued by the heroes. And the city never got around to fixing it up just yet.

She was at a dead end. She just had to go back out the alley and she would be fine. Be positive. She had to be positive. She would just take the long way around.

She took one last look towards the piles of rubble and-

"Oh? Why have you stopped?"

Izuku felt her heart drop as she slowly turned to the source of the voice.

There, in the only path Izuku had left to go, was Himiko Toga. In all her psychopathic glory.

Toga let out a maniacal giggle. "It was really fun you know. Chasing you around town." She kept walking forward, her footsteps echoing in the otherwise silent alleyway.

Izuku could only stare at the girl who represented her doom. She was looking no worse for wear than she was when they began the game of cat and mouse. Her breathing was even and it seemed as if she hadn't just chased her around an entire neighborhood.

"But all games come to an end." Toga continued onward. Her voice still carrying that ever playful lilt.

Izuku felt as if she were paralyzed. Her breath caught in her throat and her body refused to move. The adrenaline that once flooded her body seemingly vanished without a trace and the only thing she could think of was how her entire being was screaming to _run_.

"And you were so delicious too! I could feel everything about you with just one lick…" She stopped close enough that Izuku could feel her breath upon her neck.

Toga smiled. "You have so much hope… and so much anger…" she reached up to caress Izuku's cheeks.

The blonde girl leaned forward, pressing herself into the motionless girl enough so they both fell onto the ground. "You're so lonely… and yet, I can feel that you have a desire deep within you."

Toga straddled Izuku's paralyzed body. Her bare thighs touching the green haired girl's waist. "You want everything… don't you?" She whispered into her ear.

Izuku gasped. As if that last sentence uttered into her ear was a cure, she struggled against Toga's clutches to no avail.

"Shhh…" she whispered. "Don't struggle…"

Toga smiled. It was one of utter clarity and held none of the wickedness that Izuku had sensed before.

"It'll all be over soon…" she continued, one hand of hers held a knife of glinting silver and red.

Izuku panicked. She was going to _**die.**_

It was different than with the sludge villain. There she was surrounded by people. People who she didn't know and they didn't know her, but she wasn't alone. There were heroes on the scene. There was hope.

But here? She was isolated. In a back alley that no one used. Alone with a stranger who was going to kill her. There was no hope here. No hero to magically save the day at the last second.

She was alone.

 _Think_.

She had to think. A way to get out. Anything physical wouldn't work, Toga was stronger than her. She had to reason with her.

 _Think!_

Reason with a crazy person? How the hell was she supposed to do that. She could say one thing and that could set them off.

"Ahhh…" Toga let out a soft sigh as she brought her knife down on Izuku's unwounded cheek.

Fire ran up her nerves as her cheek was sliced open. Her thoughts scrambled to the wind with the pain.

Toga brought her face closer to Izuku's before she gave the fresh wound a soft lick, a euphoric look came upon her face.

"So sweet…" She moaned. Her yellow eyes locked with Izuku's green ones. "Your blood is the sweetest I've tasted you know?"

Giving her knife a lick, Toga propped herself back up on Izuku's waist.

"T-Toga." Izuku managed to choke out.

"Hmm…?"

Izuku's mind was spinning. She didn't know what she was going to say, so she blurted out the first thing that she thought of.

"We're friends right?" Her voice had a faint desperate tone to it.

The knife licking girl smiled down at her. "Of course we are Izuku!"

"T-Then," She stuttered. "Friends wouldn't do this to other friends… right?"

Toga blinked as if Izuku just said something incomprehensible.

"But this is how friends show each friendship! I'll drain you of blood and drink it all!" She giggled. "That way you'll be with me forever!"

"Eh?"

What?

What did she say?

"H-Hey… jokes like that aren't funny…"

Toga pouted. "I would never joke about our friendship." She went into a brief depressive mood before peeking back up. "I know! I'll demonstrate it right now if you don't believe me!"

She raised her knife.

"Wait!"

"Hmm…? It's not nice to keep our friendship waiting."

"You can't kill me!" Izuku pleaded.

Like night and day, the entire atmosphere around Toga did a flip. "Oh?" She said, her voice dark and somber.

Izuku nodded desperately.

"And why is that, Midoriya-san?" She asked, the playful lilt usually found in her tone gone.

The girl in question shivered at the sudden change in demeanor and addressal. She wondered if she had just signed her death contract.

"Because…" She searched for a reason that would quell the girl's sudden change. "Because…"

"I'm listening, Midoriya-san."

"You said… you said my blood was sweet right?"

Toga tilted her head in question. "Yes, and what of it?"

Maybe…

Maybe she could go somewhere with this.

"W-well if my blood is so sweet, and you like it so much." Izuku couldn't believe what she was about to suggest. "If you- If you killed me now you would never be able to drink it again after this, right?"

"..." The yellow eyed killer stayed silent. Izuku took it as a sign to continue.

"But if you leave me alive, I'd be able to keep making the blood you like so much! And- And I'd even give it to you willingly!"

Please.

Please take it.

"Really." Toga said.

It didn't sound like a question, but Izuku nodded anyways.

"..." She stared at the green girl underneath her.

Izuku swallowed down the torrent of emotions she felt from the situation. She wanted to cry, to yell, to scream and shout. But that had to wait. She could do that when she wasn't in danger of dying.

Toga's face was stony and hard. Her normal expressive features and wicked smile were nowhere to be seen. It was difficult for Izuku to tell what the girl might have been thinking of before, but now it was nigh impossible.

The stoic girl moved her face parallel to Izuku, her piercing yellow eyes starting into Izuku's green ones.

"Promise?" She asked. Her voice steady and monotone.

Izuku forced a smile on her face before nodding once more.

"Really?" Toga said.

Izuku's brow furrowed. There was something in the way Toga said that which caused her attention to perk up. That and underneath her yellow irises there was something _more_.

Had the situation, Izuku had no doubt she would attempt to play detective and figure out what it was, but at the current moment she was doing everything she could to stay alive.

"Of course." She responded.

Toga continued staring, before unpinning Izuku's right arm and holding a pinky out in front of her.

"Promise."

Izuku stared at the outstretched pinky. It was so… dainty, and feminine and… she didn't know what else to call it, but looking at it and how similar it was to any other normal girls fingers made it hard for Izuku to wrap her mind that _this girl_ was originally planning on killing her.

Izuku wrapped her pinky around Toga's, letting it curl around for a second before breaking apart.

"I promise."

Toga beamed. Her normal wicked smile returning on her face in full force and her eyes lit back up to their usual mischievous glint. She leapt up off Izuku and twirled around in a happy little dance.

Izuku stared. It was as if a switch had been flipped in the weird blonde girl. One moment she had been the most stone faced person she had ever met, and now she was dancing around like a ballerina who just nailed their audition. Izuku questioned _her own_ sanity as she slowly got up from the ground.

"T-Toga…" She called. She wasn't sure how to address the girl she had made a promise with, but figured it was better to inform her of what she was about to do.

"Hmm?" Said girl responded.

"I'm… gonna head home now. Is that alright…?"

Contrary to her beliefs however, Toga was still all smiles and dances as she received Izuku's intentions.

"Okayyyy!"

Letting out a breath she didn't know she had taken. Izuku nodded to herself. She had gotten permission from the would-be-killer-turned-friend(?) and all she had to do was actually start to leave. No pressure. Izuku stepped forward and-

"Wha...t?" She gasped out.

The world spun, the concrete and the ground she was standing on was now moving wildly and there were black spots forming rapidly in her vision. The feeling of her hitting the ground once more vaguely registered in her mind as creeping numbness enveloped her.

Ah.

That's right.

She had lost a lot of blood.

Shit.

She just hoped she wouldn't be killed while she was asleep.

* * *

 **And then the world went black.**

* * *

When Izuku woke, it was to the familiar sight of her own room. Grimacing as she turned her head about. Her hands went up to her injured cheeks only to find them properly bandaged. Her mind felt sluggish as she tried to process exactly what was going on.

She was… alive?

And in her room?

Her gaze turned to her All Might alarm clock. It proudly read out the number **10:32 AM**.

She was definitely late for school, and as much as she hated skipping, she had a distinct feeling that she wasn't going to be able to make it to school at all.

Izuku stretched out her limbs, revelling in the satisfying pops they made and the feeling of stiffness fading away. Looking down at her clothes, she saw that she was still clad in her school uniform from yesterday. Her hair felt matted and greasy, and her skin felt like it was caked in dirt. Other than that, it didn't seem like she was any worse for wear.

The question however, still remained. How did she get back to her house from that alley?

She shifted, mulling in her thoughts, before noticing that a small piece of paper was sticking out of her breast pocket.

Izuku gently took it out and unfurled it.

 _I patched you up and took you home! Let's have a lot more fun together next time Izuku!_

 _\- Toga_

So that's what happened.

She wasn't sure if she liked that her newfound friend(?) knew where she lived. But she supposed it could be worse.

She could be dead.

* * *

 **Start: May 9th. 2018**

 **End: August 9th. 2018**

 **Words: 4,447**

 **Oops. Sorry for the 3 month delay. The past couple months have been the busiest ever. With finals happening immediately after I published chapter 2, into Fanime happening. Then following that was ultimate weapon prog in FF14. Followed by Anime Expo happening. Then followed by MORE ultimate weapon prog for my main group.**

 **So much has happened that I've barely gotten a chance to write. In fact, 90% of this chapter was written today and yesterday. Granted I rewrote a lot but still.**

 **Anyways. If around the middle starts to sound convoluted, sorry about that. My writing style kind of turned itself sideways during the 3 month break and I'm getting back into my old habits. You might have noticed the chapter names being character names. Yeah that's a thing.**

 **All Might next. I'll have it done by the end of the month. Hopefully. No promises.**

 **As always, please notify me if you notice any mistakes. Any constructive criticism is always welcome too.**

 **-FN**


End file.
